Main opposition leader Tsipras on a coalition government: If we lack 10 MPs, let the smaller parties face their responsibilities

Alexis Tsipras asked during his interview at the Delphi Economic Forum said that the smaller parties of the Left should take their responsibilities if the numbers for a SYRIZA-PASOK coalition government do not add up.

He pointed out that we are going to an election of parity of votes. As he said, it is a crucial issue how the country will be governed, emphasizing that “what you vote for comes out”.

He explained that New Democracy seems unable to cooperate. He cannot with Mr. Velopoulos, from whom he is trying to steal MPs, and he cannot with PASOK either because Mr. Mitsotakis was wiretapping its leader. So the options are a government of cooperation between SYRIZA and PASOK. “If the numbers do not add up, the other parties of the Left must assume their responsibility”, he said and added that if there are 5-10 MPs missing in a progressive convergence coalition, they must assume the responsibility to support this government or it will pave the way for Mr. Mitsotakis.

We are clear, we have a specific program to uplift the Economy, he said asking for a strong mandate for a progressive government.

With reference to the statements of Mr. Varoufakis and the “Dimitra” plan, Alexis Tsipras commented that he opened an issue that does not concern Greek society, but concerns his own obsessions.

“These cannot be a subject of negotiation, not even discussion”, a discussion that was not accepted even in 2015, as the President of SYRIZA said, adding that “this is why Mr. Varoufakis left”.

Mitsotakis is lying

“How much will he be able to use the bogeyman of SYRIZA ploy”, asked Alexis Tsipras, commenting on what the prime minister said about the debt. “2023 is an oxymoron. When we settled the debt, in 2018, Mr. Mitsotakis said that we signed a 4th memorandum”, he said characteristically and added that “he is lying even now. The truth is we’re out of the memoranda, but the country is wounded. The wounds of the crisis have not healed. We are becoming a country more like the countries of Eastern Europe. If there is one goal, it is the goal of convergence.

The middle class

Asked what he will do to win back the middle class, he said that all these years he was burdened even during the period of his own government because the country had to get out of the memorandums and the country could move on its own.

He pointed out that “from 2019 to 2023 we had more income from taxes than in the four years 2015-2019? The rise in tax revenue is due to rampant inflation and indirect taxes. Only from surplus income we had an increase of 4.5 billion. These are given in subsidies. They are given purposefully to keep prices high. We still have overtaxation today through indirect taxes. This has to stop. Today there is no national target. The plan is to strengthen the strong and weaken the weak.”

On the debate

He characterized the subject of the debate between himself and Kyriakos Mitsotakis as a joke. Yes, he was in favor of holding a debate with all the candidates, but he insisted on a telephone battle between the two.

“Let’s discuss, exchange our thoughts and our programs,” he said and added that Mr. Mitsotakis wants a debate-soup with all the candidates to hide his responsibilities. “What is Mr. Mitsotakis afraid of? Even their fanatical supporters know that he is afraid of comparison,” he said characteristically.